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Following the historic decision in Navsari to permit an aramgah on the grounds adjacent to Doongerwadi (see "Navsari’s pioneering decision," page 20), the traditionalists, as expected, have raised a hue and cry. Chapter and verse of the scriptures have been cited to bolster the benefits of dakhmenashini and the disastrous consequences of burial. If the corpse is buried the poor soul may wander aimlessly in the afterlife, unable to reach or cross the Chinvat Pul, the bridge that supposedly takes one to a Zoroastrian heaven.

But how correct and complete is the information cited? Do the scriptures support this thesis? The reference most often cited is the Vendidad, a text of mixed linguistic antecedents and uncertain age. "The Vendidad’s different parts vary widely in character and age... (German linguist) Karl Friedrich Geldner identified the texts as being linguistically distinct from both the Old Avestan language texts as well as from the Yashts of the younger Avesta. Today there is controversy over historical development of the Vendidad," states Wikipedia.

The Vendidad cites queries supposedly posed by the Prophet and answered by Ahura Mazda. Parsiana referred to the translations by James Darmesteter in Sacred Books of the East, 1898 available on Jospeh Peterson’s avesta.org and Behramgore Anklesaria’s rendering undertaken between the 1930s and 40s and published by the K. R. Cama Oriental Institute (1949 and 2002). Both, the translation by the French orientalist as well as by the principal of the Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy Zarthoshti Madressa and the Mulla Feroze Madressa, state the land on which a dakhma or cemetery exists remains impure for 50 years after the last body has been consigned or interred. The dakhma is viewed as a lesser evil than burial as the bodies are confined to a limited space, while a cemetery is spread over a larger area.

Zoroaster is quoted as asking Ahura Mazda: "Which is the place where the earth feels sorest grief?" The reply is "the neck of Azezura (a mount at the gate of hell) whereon the hosts of fiends rush forth from the burrow of Druj" (Chapter 3, para 7). The Prophet then asks which is the second place where the earth is unhappy and the answer is "the place wherein most corpses of dogs and of men lie buried." The number three worst spot is "the place whereon stand most of those dakhmas on which the corpses of men are deposited."

Darmesteter clarifies, "Although the erection of dakhmas is enjoined by the law, yet the dakhma in itself is as unclean as any spot. Yet even that spot… is not to lie defiled forever, as every 50 years the dakhmas ought to be pulled down, so that their sites may be restored to their natural purity."

As regards "Who is the first that rejoices the earth with greatest joy," the answer is "it is he who digs out of it (the earth) most corpses of dogs and men." The second greatest cause for rejoicing is "he who pulls down most of the dakhmas on which the corpses of men are deposited" (chapter 3, paras 12 and 13). Hence destroyers of dakhmas are ranked second only to those who dig out corpses of men and dogs from the earth.

Though elsewhere in the Vendidad women are referred to in conjunction with men and separately, one wonders why the above references single out dogs and men, and in that order! Were women considered unworthy of mention here or do the rules of disposal as cited in the Vendidad not apply to them?

Whatever one may take away from the text, it is clear that consigning a corpse to a dakhma is preferred over burying the body, but there is no mention in chapters three (pertaining to defiling the earth) and seven (dealing with purity laws) of any benefit to the soul. The talk is only of the sorrow caused to the ground. The dakhma is viewed as a lesser, necessary evil, not a boon. If the community were to follow the diktats of the Vendidad, then all the existing dakhmas would have to be pulled down and, if need be, resurrected at some other spot. And even then the original sites would remain impure for 50 years after the demolitions.

Contrary to what is stated about nothing surviving on doongerwadi and cemetery grounds, vegetation does grow. Many a doongerwadi ground has rich flora and fauna. And inside dakhmas, especially the ones used occasionally or not at all, grass and plants grow.

Ambawadi and Godrej Baug were built on grounds supposedly adjacent to the Bombay Doongerwadi lands. People reside in these places, and trees and flora exist. The Thana anjuman has built housing next to their Doongerwadi lands. And where the tiny Dadysett dakhma stood on the road to Walkeshwar, a skyscraper was constructed next to the tower (the dakhma has long since been demolished and the people who removed the structure caused the earth to rejoice).

At cemeteries too there is ample vegetation. The Canadian military doctor and artillery commander Maj John McCrae, after conducting the funeral services of a young Canadian artillery officer in Belgium in May 1915, penned the famous poem In Flanders Fields: "In Flanders fields the poppies blow/ Between the crosses, row on row."

Some of the Vendidad chapters deal with issues like the penalty for breaking a contract or for killing and injuring another person. "Oh holy creator of the material world! Who so will break the contract which is of a cattle’s worth, what is his penalty?... Who so deals (the) killing-blow causing the blood to flow — (a one-third wound) — what is his penalty?" and so on. Today the text has no jurisdiction in such matters. In a secular democracy, the law of the land decides the punishment, not one’s religious scriptures.

The Navsari trustees are facing considerable flak over their bold decision. A signature campaign opposing the cemetery is being undertaken. At the Federation of the Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India West Zone B meet in Valsad on July 24, 2016 Dastur Khurshed Dastoor, the high priest of Udvada, warned, "Once you start an aramgah, future generations will opt for the shortcut." Now that the first step has been taken, other anjumans may take courage and defy the diktats of the clergy and traditionalists. How long can the floodgates prevent the dam from bursting? As the English poet John Dryden warned over 400 years ago, "Beware the fury of a patient man."